Holder for pictures



June 2, 1959 D. M. KNOX HOLDER FOR PICTURES Filed July 18, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR M N a ATTORNEYS Jay-1 D. M. KN-OX HOLDER FOR PICTURES June 2, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 18, 1957 INVENTYOR M lf fl United States Patent 9 HOLDER FOR PICTURES David M. Knox, New York, NY.

Application July 18, 1957, SerialNo. 672,779

4 Claims. (Cl. 40-152) This invention relates to devices for supporting pictures or the like and in particular relates to a holder having a picture-carrying chamber provided with novel means to quickly open and close a chamber for the purpose of inserting or withdrawing a picture.

In general, the invention contemplates a picture holder having a picture carrying chamber arranged so that a picture can be simply and easily inserted or withdrawn independently of permanent fastening devices such as nails, screws and the like, whereby to provide a holder having great flexibility for the display of pictures so as to enable the user to conveniently make changes for corrrelating decorating or color schemes and for the display of different favorite pictures.

In oneaspect the invention contemplates a picture holder including a frame having a picture-carrying chamber together with mechanism for opening and closing the chamber and releasably held in closure position.

In another aspect, the invention contemplates a. dustproof picture holder having a chamber for the carrying of a picture, the chamber being formed. in part by. a flap movable to positions to open and close the chamber together with means for releasably holding the flap in its closure position.

In another aspect the invention contemplates a. picture holder having a frame provided with a picture-carrying chamber together with a flap made of resilient material connected to the frame and providing access to thechamber, the flap, when in position to close said chamber, being releasably secured by the resiliency thereof forcing two mating surfaces together.

In another aspect the invention contemplates a picture holder having a frame provided with a picture-carrying chamber together with a flap movable to positions to. open and close the chamber and interconnected to the frame by a resilient portion which operates to hold the flap in a closure position.

In another" aspect the invention contemplates a holder for pictures having a picture-carrying chamber provided with a backing member forming part of the chamber and having a resilient flap connected thereto, the resiliency providing for: sliding and swinging motion of the flap for opening the chamber and for releasably securing the flap when in position to close the chamber.

In another aspect the invention contemplates a holder for pictures or the like having a picture-carrying chamber adapted to be opened or closed by a resiliently mounted catch held in its. closure position by Wedging means.

The manner in which the foregoing is attained will be apparent from the following description and drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a rear elevational view of a holder constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrating the chamber access flap in its closure position;

Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 isa fragmentary vertical section showing the chamber access flap in open position together withthe wedging surfaces which cooperate in holding the flap in its closure position;

Figure 4 is a. section taken on' the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1 with the glass, picture and mat removed;

Figure dis a view showing the backing memberof Figure 1, the full lines showing the configuration of. the backing member before forming and the dotted lines showing the configuration of the backing member after forming;

Figure 7 is an edge view of: the backing member of Figure 6 with the dotand dash lines indicating the member after forming;

Figures 8 and 9" illustrate the frame of Figures 1 through 7 with a supporting :brace applied to the backing member;

Figure 10 is a rear elevational view of: a. holder constructed in accordance withatheinvention and illustrating the chamber accesszin its closureposition; and

Figure 11 is a view taken. along the lines 11I1 in Figure 10 but with the chamber access flap in. its open position.

In Figurel the holder has a framemade up of'top and bottom molding members l'andland sidemoldingimembers- 3 and 4. arranged to form a chamber 5- witha view ing aperture 6. The bottom molding member 2 is recessed as indicated at 10, the recess: extending substantially throughout the length of the member. Secured to the frame is a backing member 11 formed with: a flap as generally indicated by, the numeral 12. In the embodiment shown, the flap is made by way of. slits formed: in the backing, member. as generally indicated M13 and 14. The flap is arranged'so as torbe slidable with respect to the backing member in an up and down. direction. as. indicated by the arrows, a. Thezlower portion:15. of the flap is swingableas between the position shown in' Figure 2 which is the chamber closing. position, and. the position indicated in Figure 3 which is the chamber opening position.

The invention. contemplates that the flap be held in its closure position by its own resiliency forcing two locking surfaces togetherand. the mannerin' which. this is done in the holder of Figure 1. will be described as follows. The backing member 11 and the flap 12 are made from resilient materiahfor. example, such as shim. or spring steel, and the point of interconnection between. the flap and the backing member is: formed into a generally annular shape. as indicated. at 16. This annular shape gives a spring-.likeor resilient characteristic to the flap in. the sense that if the flap is pushed upwardly or downwardly the annular portion. will. exert a counter-force. On the bottom of the flap is secured. a; catch. 20. which; has a wedge-shaped portion formed by the adjacent surfaces 21 and 22. The lower molding; member 2 has a correspond? ing. wedge-shaped portion formediby the adjacent surfaces 23 and'24; As. seen in FigureZ, the catch in. the closure position'fits into the recess 10 and. the wedge-shaped portions are. abutting, and engagement: pressure is supplied by the resilient action of annular portion 16 of the flap. In other words, the interconnection tends to push: the

catch downwardly, hence engage the. wedging portionsand holdthe catch and flap firmly in place.

While in the embodiment shown the wedging surfaces are provided only on the central portions of the lower molding member and catch, it will be apparent that where desired the wedging surfaces can beincreased in length, for example, as shown in the holder described in my copending application 672,765 entitled, Picture Holder, and filed July 18, 1957. p

The manner in which the foregoing structure is operated to open and close the chamber is described below. With the parts in theposition as shown in FigureZ, a

force is exerted on the lower end of the catch against the pressure exerted by the resilient portion 16 so that the catch and flap slide upwardly. With this upward movement the wedging surfaces are disengaged and then the lower portion of the flap can be moved outwardly to the position shown in Figure 3. This latter motion of the flap is obtained by the fact that the flap is made of resilient material and therefore the flap can swing or pivot about the area designated by 17 in Figures 2 and 3.

With the chamber open, a picture 25 and its supporting material such as the backing 26, mat 30 and glass 31 can be quickly inserted in the chamber or the same can be quickly removed so that a different picture or mat can be substituted. To close the chamber, all that is required is that the catch be moved in toward the recess 10, pushed upwardly and then released, the effect of which is to allow the resilient portion 16 to push the catch downwardly so that the wedging surfaces engage and the flap is held firmly in place.

The construction of the backing member 11 and the flap 12 will be explained in connection with Figures 6 and 7. The backing member is generally rectangular in shape (or it may be some other shape according to the frame design) and is provided at the top corners with two diagonal slits 40 and 41. Initially the material making up the backing member is out along the lines indicated at 42, 43, 44 and 45. Then a pair of nitehes 46 and 47 are provided along the slits 44 and 45. This forms a flap 48. The portion of the material between the slits 42 and 43 is then formed to make the generally circular shaped portion 49. This, of course, pulls the outer edges of the flap up to the position indicated by the dotand-dash lines 51 and 52. Then the bottom portion of the flap is formed into a generally circular shape as indicated at 53. The formed plate is then slightly dished as indicated by the dotted lines 59 in Figure 7. The catch is then attached to the flap and the assembly put on the frame. In making the assembly, the edge portions of the flap between the nitches and the portion 16 are put under the back member, while the portions below the nitches remain on the outside of the backing member. This latter arrangement is clearly indicated by the dotted and full lines in Figure 1.

From an inspection of Figures 2, 3 and 5, it will be noted that the molding members are formed with slanting surfaces indicated at 55, 56 and 57. The catch also has a slanting surface 58. The outer edges 59 of the dished backing member are disposed on these slanting surfaces and the effect of the foregoing is to provide that the backing member shall be capable of exerting a light pressure on the supporting material holding the picture in the chamber 5.

In Figures 8 and 9, I have shown a typical example of the manner in which the holder of Figure 1 may be adapted as a desk or tabletop display. In this embodiment it will be seen that the top 60 of a brace 61 extends through the circular-shaped portion 16 of the backing member. By separating the brace and the backing member the holder may be set at the desired upright position. The holder in Figure 1 may also be adapted for use in ensemble-type display, for example, by securing supporting strips to the side molding members in a manner such as disclosed in my copending application 672,760 entitled, Ensemble for Pictures and the Like and filed July 18, 1957.

It will be observed that the holder described above is constructed of several different components all of which are fastened together to make a composite structure. The holder, however, may be constructed as a unitary piece, for example, cast or molded from plastic. Such a holder is shown in Figures 10 and 11 where the frame of the holder is composed of molding members 62, 63, 64, 65, together with a backing member 66 having a flap 70, all forming a chamber 71 having a view aperture 72. The flap 70 is interconnected with the backing member by 4 a generally circular-shaped resilient portion 73. On the bottom of the flap is a catch 74. The bottom molding member 65 has a groove 75 which accepts the catch when the flap is in its closure position as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 11.

The cooperative action between the catch 74 and circular portion 73 will now be explained. With the flap in open position, as indicated by the full lines in Figure 2, it will be seen that the portion 73 forms a tight circle. The length of the flap is such, that when it is moved into closure position, the portion 73 is pulled slightly downwardly (to open the circle as indicated by the dotted line 73') and hence exerts an upward force tending to pull the inner part of the catch into tight engagement with the bottom part of the molding member 65.

In the embodiment of Figure 10 it will be noted that lower molding member 75 is not recessed as is the lower member of Figure 1. With this arrangement, it is preferred that the slits 76 be made a substantial distance from the lower molding member to provide, when the flap is in open position, adequate clearance so that the glass, picture, matting, etc., can be quickly inserted or withdrawn from the chamber 71.

I claim:

1. A picture holder comprising: a frame formed with a chamber having a viewing aperture; a backing member disposed on said frame and forming part of said chamber; a flap connected to said backing member and movable to a position to open said chamber and to a position to close said chamber, the flap being made of resilient material and being annularly shaped at the area of said interconnection with the backing member, the resiliency and annular shape cooperating to exert a force when the flap is in closure position; and locking means securing said flap in its closure position including surfacing on the flap and surfacing on the frame forced into engagement by said force.

2. A picture holder comprising: a frame formed with a chamber having a viewing aperture; a backing member disposed on said frame and forming a part of said chamber; a catch movable to a position to open said chamber and to a position to close said chamber; a flap interconnecting the catch and the backing member, the flap being made of resilient material and being annularly shaped at the area of said interconnection with the backing member, the resiliency and annular shape cooperaing to exert a force when the flap is in closure position; and locking means securing said catch in its closure position including surfacing on said catch and on said frame forced into engagement by said force.

3. A picture holder comprising: a frame formed with a picture-carrying chamber and a viewing aperture therefor; a backing member on said frame and forming part of said chamber; a flap; means slidably mounting said flap on said backing member; a catch on said flap and swingable in a position to open said chamber and in a position to close said chamber; a resilient interconnection between said flap and said backing member accommodating said sliding motion; and locking means releasably securing said catch in its closure position including surfacing on the frame and on the catch forced into engagement by said resilient interconnection.

4. A picture holder comprising: a frame formed with a picture-carrying chamber and a viewing aperture; a backing member made of resilient material disposed on said frame and forming part of said chamber and having a pair of slits forming a generally truncated triangular flap, the flap at its interconnection with the backing member being annularly formed to make a spring-like section and each side of the flap having notches, the portions of the side between the notches and said section being on the chamber side of the backing member; a catch secured to the base portion of the flap and being swingable to a position to open said chamber and to a position to close said chamber; and locking means for releasably securing said catch in its closure position including wedge-shaped surfacing on the catch and corresponding wedge-shaped surfacing on the frame being forced together by the action of said spring-like section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Ian. 19, 1895 

